Feed-mill.



H. G. McCULLOCH.

FEED MILL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9. 1914. RENEWED MAR. 1.1911.

1,225,4%9@ Patented May 8,1917.

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H. GQMcCULLOCH.

FEED MILL. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9,1914 RENEWED MAR. 1,1917.

Patented May 8, 1917.

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FEED MILL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9. 1914. RENEWED MAR. 1.1917.

1 fi i a Patented M 1917.

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parts in side elevation.

UNITED TATEg PATENT @FFfQlt.

HARRY G. MGCULLOOH, OF FREEPORT, ILLINOIS, AS-SIGNOB, BY lVIESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO STOVER MANUFACTURING AND ENGINE COMPANY, OF FEEEPORT,ILLINOIS, A

CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FEED-MILL.

Patented May 8, 1917.

Application filed February 9, 1914, Serial No. 817,396. Renewed March 1,1917. Serial No. 151,814.

To ((2 Z whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRY G. MGCUL- LOCH,residing at Frecport, in the county of Stephenson and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed-Mills, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in feed grinders of theclass that are made to grind all sorts of materials in ordi nary use forfeeding stock. Such a variety of feed is ground in a machine of thisclass that it is extremely difficult to make the operation satisfactoryin all its various uses, and in grinding the numerous combinations offeed from the largest to the smallest, it has been found extremelydifficult to com bine in a single machine the maximum capacity and thegreatest efficiency in grinding to the required degree of fineness andevenness.

It is my purpose to so combine and arrange the various devices used ingrinders of this class that they may coact with the greatest possibledegree of eflicien'cy and afford a machine with the greatest capacityconsistent with satisfactory operation.

To such end my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangementand combination of the various elements herein shown and described theessential characteristics of which are clearly defined in the claims atthe end of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a complete grinder fromthe discharge side thereof, having certain portions of the upperhousings broken away to show the arrangement of the feed rolls and thecutter with relation to the other parts of the ma *1 i c. Fig. 2 is anelevation looking at the end of the machine opposite the feeding troughwhich will be called herein the rear end. ig. 3 is a plan view of thegrinder proper, the upper portions of the housings or covers beingremoved to show the working parts within. -Fig. 4 is a vertical,longitudinal section of the grinder body in the plane l% of Fig. 3,showing the main working shaft and certain other Fig. 5 is a detail endview of the feed gate and the adjacent parts from the side of thegrinding burs showing the portion of the feed controlling chamberbetween the gate and the grinding bars in vertical transverse section inthe plane 5-5 of Fig. 4 and Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section inthe plane 6-6 of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrow 4 throughthe throat of the grinder at the discharge end of the supplementaryforce feed conveyer.

Referring to these drawings, A is the frame of the grinder propersupported by means oflegs (1 upon skids b and c0ntaining a series ofdownwardly concave portions a (4 a (see Fig. 3) which will be calledrespectively the breaking chamber, the feed controlling chamber and thegrinding chamber. The walls of these chambers are completed by means ofsuitable removable housings or covers in the ordinary manner.

A feed table, B, Fig. 1, having legs 6, supported upon the skids 7),carries the mouth of the machine, H, which is c0nnected by suitablehousings with the frame A and furnishes means for mounting or supportinga pair of feed rolls, G, G a stationary knife F, a rotating cutter headE, carrying a series of knives, e, and a preliminary breaker and feederD, Figs. 3 and i.

The frame A is provided with boxes a (E, o in which is journaled a mainbreaking, feeding and grinding shaft C extending axially through thebreaking, feed controlling and grinding chambers.

The shaft C is driven by means of a wings, (Z spirally arranged upon theshaft and the direction of the rotation of the latter is such that thematerials passing through the grinder are moved slowly toward the leftin Fig. i which is toward the eduction end of the breaking chamberthrough which said materials pass to the grinding burs.

Upon the main shaft C, within the break ing chamber and below thepreliminary breaking shaft are a spiral flange 0 a series of breakingteeth, 0 spirally arranged on the shaft and a pair of spiral wings, aall arranged with reference to the direction of rotation of the shaft,to move the material to the left. The flange 0 prevents the materialfrom lodging in the lower portion of the breaking chamber opposite theeduction end, the breakers 0 break up the larger materials and at thesame time crowd them toward said eduction end and the wings a forciblyeject said materials from the chamber.

Next to the wings c and turning upon the main shaft C, is a rotatablefeed gate, K, Figs. 4c and 5, and beyond the feed gate is a partition M.Said partition has a semi-circular opening, m, and a correspondingopening, 71:, in the feed gate may be brought into registration orpartially or wholly out of registration with the opening in thepartition to regulate or close the opening through the gate.

A series of teeth, upon the periphery of the feed gate, together with aworm 70 on a shaft 70 provided with a crank 70*, provide means forrotating the feed gate K upon the main shaft to vary the size of thefeed opening.

Upon the shaft C, and commencing close to the partition M, is a spiralflange 0* extending through the feed controlling chamber and into thethroat of the grinding mechanism which is shown at O. The termination ofthe spiral wings 0 close to the feed gate upon one side and thecommencement of the spiral flange a close to the feed partition, uponthe other side, makes it possible to hurry the material through the feedopening rapidly and to regulate the quantity which passes throughaccurately by means of the feed gate without danger of clogging themachine.

In grinding coarse material only, said materials are fed in the mouth Hof the machine to the feed rolls Gr, G which pass them over thestationary knife F in position to be cut into short lengths by therotating cutter E, which throws them forward and downward within thereach of the preliminary breaker D. This, with its comparatively slowmovement, exerts a combined breaking, downwardly feeding and laterallyconveying action upon the materials, packs them down upon the mainbreakers beneath which break them still finer and feed them to thespiral Wings 0 The latter carry the materials onward to the feedopening, wiping the feed gate clean upon the induction side and thespiral flange 0* picks them up on the opposite side of the partition M,wiping the latter clean upon the eduction side and rushing the brokenfeed into the mouth of the grinder and to the grinding burs which are ofwell known construction and need not be described herein.

The preliminary breaker D, with its comparatively slow rotation, co-actswith the main breaker beneath, with its oomparatively rapid rotation toreduce the materials to the required degree of fineness much moreefficiently and with less strain upon the machine than is possible witha single breaking shaft.

The spiral wings 0 upon the main shaft, closely wiping one side of thefeed gate and the spiral flange 0 closely wiping the other side of thepartition against which the feed gate slides, co-act with said feed gateand partition to keep the feed opening at all times clear for the movingmaterial, which in ordinary machines of this class is liable to becomelodged in the passage and render uncertain the extent of the feedopening corresponding to any particular position of the feed gate.

It is often desirable in grinding certain classes of feed to mixtherewith a limited quantity of small grain. This should be added to themixture in the breaking chamber so that it may be distributed evenlythrough the coarser materials before passing to the grinding-burs. Forthis purpose an opening of some sort must be provided between the cutterhead and the breaking mechanism and a great many serious accidents haveoccurred because of the proximity of the cutter head to these openings.To avoid the possibility of such accidents, I have provided an openingprotected in such a way that the operator cannot possibly reach throughit to the cutter head. The housing or cover through which this openingis provided is seen at P and its lower edge [9, is secured to thedownwardly concave portion a of the breaking chamber. A preferablytriangular opening in this housing is provided at p and a pivoted gate10 is arranged to cover this opening when no mixture of small grain isdesired. Just inside the tri-angular opening and extending inwardly anddownwardly from the upper edge thereof is a shield 37 of suflicientextent to prevent the operator from reaching the cutter head through theopening. An auxiliary hopper Q is provided to be attached to the machineadjacent to the housing P to hold a supply of small grain in aconvenient position for feeding through the opening 10 I recognize thepossibility of variation in the form, construction and arrangement ofthe parts herein described and I desire not to limit myself to the sameexcept as clearly pointed out in the following claims in which it is myintention to cover all of the patentable novelty contained in myinvention over the prior art.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a feedgrinder, the combination with a suitable frame and driving gear ofgrinding burs mounted therein, housings inclosing a breaking chamber, amain breaker shaft journaled in the lower portion of said chamber nearthe grinding burs, suitable breaking teeth and spirally arranged,eonveying devices upon the shaft to break up the feed and urge it towardthe grinding burs, a preliminary breaker shaft journaled in the breakingchamber and geared to a slower rotation than the main breaker shaft andradially projecting breakers upon the preliminary breaker shaft spirallyarranged to give the feed a sli ht preliminary movemcnt toward thegrinding end of the machine.

2. In a feed grinder, the combination with a suitable frame and drivinggear of grinding burs mounted therein, housings inclosing a breakingchamber, a main breaker shaft ournaled in the lower portion of saidchamber near the grinding burs, suitable breaking teeth and spirallyarranged conveying devices upon the shaft to break up the feed and urgeit toward the grinding burs, a preliminary breaker shaft j ournaled inthe breaking chamber and geared to a slower rotation than the mainbreaker shaft and radially projecting breakers upon the preliminarybreaker shaft.

3. In a feed grinder, the combination with a suitable frame and drivinggear of grinding burs mounted therein, housings inclosing a breakingchamber, a main breaker shaft journaled in the lower portion of saidchamber near the grinding burs, suitable breaking teeth and spirallyarranged conveying devices upon the shaft to break up the feed and urgeit toward the grinding burs, a preliminary breaker shaft journaled inthe breaking chamber and radially projecting breakers upon thepreliminary breaker shaft spirally arranged to give the feed a slightpreliminary movement toward the grinding end of the machine.

4:. In a feed mill, a breaker chamber having an adjustable dischargeopening, a feed chamber to receive material discharged throu h saidopening and itself open on the side opposite said opening, a screwconveyer arranged to force material out of the feed chamber at saidopposite side, grinding devices through which said conveyer forces thematerial which it expels from the feed chamber, and means in thebreaking cham ber for breaking material and forcing it through saiddischarge opening, said means, conveyer and a part of the grindingdevices being fixed to a common shaft.

5. The combination with a breaker chamber having an adjustable outletopening, devices in said chamber for breaking material and urging ittoward said opening, a feed screw in position to receive materialdelivered through said opening, grinding devices in position to receivematerial discharged by the screw, and a casing inclosing the screw andresisting outward movement of material in its path.

6. A force feed grinder comprising a frame and housings inclosing abreaking chamber, a grinding chamber and an intermediate feedcontrolling chamber, a suitably driven main shaft extending through saidchambers, breaking teeth upon said shaft in the breaking chamberspirally ar ranged to feed toward the grinding chamber, grinding bursupon said shaft in the grinding chamber, a partition in the feedcontrolling chamber transverse of the shaft and having a suitable feedopening, a feed gate adjacent to the partition having a feed openingwhich may be moved into or out of register with the opening in thepartition, spiral conveying devices upon the shaft feeding toward thegrinding burs and arranged respectively upon opposite sides of thepartition and feed gate to respectively wipe the same to keep the feedopening clear, and a preliminary breaker shaft journaled in the breakingchamber above the main shaft and provided with breakers spirallyarranged to give the feed a slight movement in the same direction as themain shaft.

7. A feed grinder comprising a frame and housings, inclosing a breakingchamber, a grinding chamber and an intermediate feed controllingchamber, a suitably driven main shaft extending through said chambers,breaking teeth upon said shaft in the breaking chamber, grinding bursupon said shaft in the grinding chamber, a partition in thefeedingcontrolling chamber transverse of the shaft and having a suitablefeed opening, a feed gate adjacent to the partition having a feedopening which may be moved into or out of register with the opening inthe partition, and spiral conveying devices upon the shaft arrangedrespectively upon opposite sides of the partition and feed gate andrespectively wiping the same to keep the feed opening clear and apreliminary breaker shaft in the breaking chamber above the main shaftgeared to a slower rotation and provided with breakers spirally arrangedto give the feed a slight movement in the same direction as the mainshaft.

In witness whereof I have signed the above applications for LettersPatent at- Freeport, Illinois, this 19th day of January HARRY G.McCULLOCH. Witnesses:

F. G. SHAIBLE, LEE MADDEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

